Desi anti-drone shield for Red Fort

NEW DELHI: The Tejas fighter jet and the recently-announced negative arms imports list came in for special mention by Prime Minister Modi as part of the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, even as an indigenous anti-drone system was deployed to guard against small aerial threats during the Independence Day function at Red Fort in the capital.
The PM also announced one lakh new NCC cadets — one-third of them girls — from the 173 districts on the land borders as well as the coastline will be trained by the armed forces in the coming days. This will make trained manpower available in these areas for disaster management, while the youth will also get skill training for making a career in the armed forces.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the new anti-drone system that was deployed near the Red Fort can bring down “micro drones” by either jamming their command and control links or damaging their electronics through laser-based directed energy weapons.
“The system can detect and jam micro drones up to 3 km and lase a target up to 1-2.5 km depending on the wattage of the laser weapon. It can be an effective counter to increased drone activity in the western and northern border sectors,” said an official.
The PM, on his part, said “mammoth steps” are being taken in the defence production field. “Recently, we have put a stop on the import of more than 100 military equipment. From missiles to light military helicopters, from assault rifles to transport aircraft — all will be made in India,” said Modi.
“Our Tejas is getting ready to equip itself as per the modern requirements, for putting up a show of its majesty, speed and strength,” the PM added. The IAF has already raised two squadrons at the Sulur airbase in Tamil Nadu for the initial 40 Tejas Mark-1 fighters, only half of which have been delivered till now.
The contract for the next 83 Tejas Mark-1A fighters, which are slated to have 43 “improvements” over the first 40 jets, is set to be inked later this year, with deliveries beginning three years after that. The 123 jets will cost over around Rs 85,000 crore.